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(No Model.)

G. A. BOWMAN.

SHIRT STUD 0R BUTTON.

No. 393,416. Patented Nov. 27, 1888.

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GEORGE A. BOWVMAN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

SHIRT STUD OR BUTTON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 393,416, dated November27, 1888.

(No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. BOWMAN, a citizen of the United S ates,residing at the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented acertain new and useful Improvement in Shirt Studs or Buttons, of whichthe following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an improvement in shirt and collar studs orbuttons, and has for its object to prevent the stiffness and irritationcaused by the frictional contact of the ordinary shirt and collar studswith the neck andother parts of the wearers body, this irritationsometimes, when the studs are made of inferior metals, producingabrasion of the skin and blood-poisoning.

My invention consists in a stud or button having a flexible base or backof india-rubber or other suitable material where it comes in contactwith the skin, in lieu of the ordinary hard and rigid back.

On the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a front view ofmyimproved shirt and collar stud or button; Fig. 2, a central transversesection through the base or back of the stud, combined with the shankand head, seen in elevation; Fig. 3, an end view of the shank detachedfrom the back of the stud; and Fig. 4 an end view of the back partlybroken away, showing the end of the shank embedded therein, like lettersof reference denoting like parts in all the figures.

The head a and shank b of my improved shirt and collar stud are composedof metal, ivory, or other material, as with ordinary shirt-studs. Thelower end of the shank b is inserted centrally within the base or back0, which is preferably in the form of a circular or other shaped disk,composed of india-rubber, leather, canvas, or some other flexibleanticorrosive material, and is concave or cupshaped on its rear side, asshown. For securing the shank b to the back 0, its lower end may beformed with flaring fangs or cars d, of a curved shape, as shown inFigs. 1, 2, 3, or of a cruciform shape, as seen in Fig. 4; or thesefangs or ears (I may be of any other configuration as found mostsuitable for embedding and holding within the material of the back 0,which envelops the entire lower portion of the shank b and extends alongthe latter either to the under side of the head a, as shown, or to anysuitable distance therefrom. By this arrangement the back 0 of the stud,which presents a soft and flexible surface beyond the the shank b, (sosensitive to the movements of the wearers body as to yield and give wayeven independently of the movement of the shank and head,) presseslightly on the skin, and by yielding to the movements of the neck orother part of the wearers bodya feeling of comfort is imparted withoutany irritation or abrasion of the skin, as so frequently experiencedwith the studs or buttons in present use.

I am aware that shirt-studs have been constructed with elastic heads,which can be contracted to allow the button-hole to pass over and aroundthem and then expand to secure the button-hole in its fastened position.I am also aware that it has been proposed to provide a stud with twoelastic heads for the same purpose; but I am not aware that a stud hasever been provided with a concaved or cupshaped yielding flexible baseadapted to relieve the wearer of the pressure of the shank.

Therefore, I claim as my invention 1. A shirt stud or button having ahead, a shank, and a, concave or cup-shaped base of yielding flexiblematerial adapted to relieve the wearer of the pressure of the shank,substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. In a shirt stud or button, the combination, with a rigid shank andhead, of a concave or cup shaped yielding flexible base, substantiallyas and for the purposes described.

3. In a shirt stud or button, the combination, with a head and a rigidshank having a slotted flaring base, of an enlarged concave orcup-shaped yielding flexible base secured to said shank, substantiallyas and for the purposes described.

In testimony whereot'I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses,this 7th day of July, 1888.

GEORGE A. BOYVMAN.

